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In September, Bank OZK executives presented a donation to Union General Health System through the Georgia HEART Hospital Program. From L to R: Bronson Lavender, Bank OZK; Lindsey Townsend, Lead, Georgia HEART Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program; Nick Townsend, Union General CFO; Jason Karnes, North Georgia Bank OZK market president, commercial banking; Kevin Bierschenk, Union General CEO; Michael Gay, Union General COO; Brian Reid, Bank OZK. Pro le: GHA Chair Born in the hills of South Dakota and growing up in Nebraska, Kevin Bierschenk was always a fan of Kevin Bierschenk mathematics; he knew he wanted a career in fi nance. However, health care fi nance was not at the top of his mind. In his small community, where he was in a graduating class of only 23 The CEO of Union General people, he says no one really went to the doctor’s offi ce. Health System has a distinct “Basically, if you got sick, you got ability to enhance the longevity healthy,” he said. “I never even went to a hospital until 1993, when my fi rst of rural hospitals. daughter was born.”
By Erin Stewart
Note: The rst part of this article re ects an interview that was conducted in February 2020, before Georgia began dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. An update related to that can be found at the end of the article. Since no one in his family worked in health care and keeping up with well visits wasn’t a priority for many people, Bierschenk wasn’t exposed to health care very much. After fi nishing his military career in 1986, he a ended the University of South Carolina, earning degrees in
economics and fi nance and was slowly introduced to a whole new world.
One of his fi rst jobs was with an Atlanta-based company that was one of the fi rst in the nation to write radiology information software. That, he says, is what introduce him to health care and began a journey of building up signifi cant and useful health care experience. From there, he worked as the chief fi nancial offi cer at a psychiatric hospital with a few locations around Metro Atlanta before moving to St. Simons to work as the CFO for what is now St. Simon’s By the Sea. Subsequent years led him to a hospital in Dahlonega, then one in Alabama. When he refl ects on his success, personally and professionally, Bierschenk credits a philosophy he put into practice that is stated in the movie “Remember the Titans,” which is, “A itude refl ects leadership.”
Kevin Bierschenk
In 2007, he accepted a chief executive offi cer position at a struggling rural hospital in Eastman, Ga., Dodge County Hospital. Just as today, in 2007, communities could not aff ord to lose their hospitals. The loss of yet another would have been a devastating blow to the local community. Bierschenk took the helm just in time. “The hospital was struggling, and they didn’t know what the future held,” he said. “They had a few million dollars in debt, no cash on hand, and were struggling with volume.” Although Dodge County Hospital is a nonprofi t facility, Bierschenk knew what many in health care understand, but the public often does not: Hospitals are a business. They must have enough volume to generate revenue and must work around diffi cult issues such as providing free and indigent care, which do not bring in revenue. His strategy was simple: “I handled it as a for-profi t hospital,” he said. “A hospital, whether it is nonprofi t or for-profi t, must be run as a business making a profi t. You must be able to buy equipment, invest in capital improvements and technology to make sure you have the most up-to-date services available for your community. And you need to be able to pay staff so there are people to take care of the community.” Bierschenk remained at Dodge County Hospital for 12 years. In that time, he created a stronger, more fi nancially stable facility that became a staple in its community. The turnaround was due in part to gaining control of the fi nances and how they were handled and building up service line off erings, but a large part was due to simple relationships in the community.
“Physician relationships are crucial to a hospital’s success,” said Bierschenk. “My team and I made sure to foster these connections and worked on recruiting top doctors who could care for our patients. We wanted to be their hospital of choice in which to work. We made sure they were in a facility where they were satisfi ed with the work and culture around them.”
Bierschenk also helped the hospital focus on what it could do best, rather than trying to do too many services on limited resources. For procedures or service lines the hospital couldn’t off er, Bierschenk focused on relationships with neighboring hospitals that do fulfi ll those needs for the community. “We didn’t have to do everything,” he said. “But what we could do, we had to make sure we did well. Let’s be the best In March, Union General Hospital celebrated the retirement of Doug at what we can do.” Davenport, assistant administrator (second from left). Pictured L to R: Michael Gay, COO; Doug Davenport, former assistant administrator; Lisa In his current role as the CEO of Union Bonham, new assistant administrator; and Kevin Bierschenk, CEO. General Hospital in Blairsville, Georgia, Bierschenk has continued his goals of improving what the hospital can off er to the community. One of the fi rst things he noticed was that the hospital, which has 22 affi liated facilities, including another hospital (Chatuge Regional) and two nursing homes, was not being run as a system. By changing the name to Union General Health System, the organization is branding itself as the premier health care organization of the North Georgia mountains and surrounding communities. Additionally, Bierschenk is ensuring that the health system is catering to the needs of community residents.
“Because of the large retiree population up here, we’re looking at how we can best take care of those patients, like orthopedics and emergency medical services. “We’re in the process of building a 14,000-square-foot orthopedic offi ce. We just hired a sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon out of Kentucky.” He also points out the impressive services Union General off ers, despite being in a rural area. “We’re doing stuff here that they’re only doing a few places in the state of Georgia. We’re doing GPSguided shoulder surgery and anterior hip procedures.”
“What we could do, we had to make sure we did well. Let’s be the best at what we can do.” -Kevin Bierschenk
GPS-guided shoulder surgery allows surgeons to understand the anatomy of the shoulder prior to the procedure. They can plan a more accurate and precise surgery in real time, making any adjustments needed. Additionally, both of Union General’s nursing homes are highly rated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Being able to off er these types of services is one reason Bierschenk feels confi dent in the hospital’s eff orts to expand into North Carolina, the state border of which is only a few miles up the road, through the building of a new clinic. “We want to be a regional hospital,” he said. Union General Hospital has expansion goals, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is a rural hospital in a small town. This, says Bierschenk, defi nitely has its advantages.
“Care is more one-on-one,” he said. “We know pre y much all the patients who come through our doors. They feel comfortable calling us if they have a health issue; it’s like a bed-and-breakfast feeling. I think it’s a li le harder in urban se ings to do that.” Whatever diff erences are present between rural and urban facilities, there are several issues they share, two of which Bierschenk is focused on: costs and staffi ng. He says one of the things he continually juggles is the fact that their cost is similar to an urban se ing. “For example, our labor costs are the same as in an urban se ing,” he said. “We pay the same, if not more. So how do we get paid the same as an urban se ing from a payor’s point of view?” Regarding staffi ng, Bierschenk says, “There is defi nitely a shortage of qualifi ed staffi ng. We’re even struggling in housekeeping. We’re competing with restaurants and businesses in town. It’s diffi cult.” Update: Since the interview for this article was conducted, the U.S. and Georgia were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. twentyfourseven got an update on how Bierschenk and his hospital are managing during this tough time. Bierschenk said that, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, staffi ng, which is already a huge issue for hospitals, has now become a daily issue.
“My goal each day is to make sure we have enough staff just to get through the day,” he said. “Because of this pandemic, staff are retiring sooner and looking to get out of the health care fi eld,” he said. “The toll this pandemic is taking on front line health workers is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” Adding to an already urgent staffi ng issue is the fact that overall, fewer people are choosing to enter the health care fi eld. Bierschenk said this is also directly related to COVID-19 and is also yet another element contributing to the fi nancial loss that hospitals have been facing.
Union General Health System staff take a moment to grab lunch in the hospital’s cafeteria. One way that CEO Kevin Bierschenk has boosted morale during the pandemic has been to off er free meals to the staff . “People who do choose to pursue work in health care are going to want a higher pay,” he said. “Recruitment and retention will require a renewed focus in addition to money.” The hospital’s expansion plans were also aff ected by the pandemic when they were put on hold; however, Bierschenk says they are examining them again. “We’re still going to be here for our communities,” he said. “The pandemic has disrupted us, but people are still dealing with the same health issues they were before it was here.” Bierschenk stated that the hospital struggles with what all hospitals are having to cope with – the fact that family members cannot visit loved ones. He says seeing the impact on patients when they can’t visit their family members is one of the biggest changes he has seen. Looking ahead to the future, when COVID-19 has ended, Bierschenk said, “I’d defi nitely have a bigger stockpile of personal protective equipment. But I also look fondly back on the days when not wearing a mask was the norm.”
